Hear from Our Customers
When your roof is repaired the right way, you stop thinking about it. No more checking the ceiling after every storm. No more wondering whether that dark spot in the corner is getting worse. You just live in your house without that low-level worry running in the background.
For homes in Chestnut Grove specifically, that peace of mind matters more than it might somewhere else. Properties along Chestnut Grove Road sit on large open lots — averaging around 3.75 acres — with no neighboring structures or tree canopy to slow down wind. When a late-summer thunderstorm rolls through inland Kent County, your roof takes the full force of it. A repair done right means you’re not starting over after the next one.
There’s also the age factor. The average home in this area was built around 1976, which means the roofing systems on many of these properties are well past the lifespan they were designed for. A properly repaired or replaced roof on a home like that doesn’t just stop the leaks — it protects the structure underneath, keeps your energy costs in check, and holds the value of the property you’ve invested in for years.
First State Roofing & Exteriors Co. is a family-owned roofing contractor based in Kent County, Delaware. We’ve been doing this work for over 22 years — not as a franchise, not as a national brand with a local phone number, but as a Delaware company that knows Chestnut Grove and the surrounding area and has a real stake in how every job turns out.
We hold GAF Master Elite Contractor status, which puts us in the top 2% of roofers in the country. That certification isn’t just a badge — it’s what unlocks access to GAF’s Golden Pledge® Limited Warranty, the strongest roof warranty available, covering both materials and workmanship under one document. Most roofers in Kent County can’t offer it.
Every job is handled by our own trained, insured, OSHA Fall Protection-certified crew. No subcontracting. The team that shows up on Chestnut Grove Road is the same team from start to finish — and we clean up after ourselves, which customers in this area consistently mention in their reviews.
It starts with a free roof inspection. A member of our crew comes out to your property on Chestnut Grove Road, gets up on the roof, and gives you an honest assessment of what’s actually happening — not a sales pitch, just a clear picture of what needs to be done and what can wait. For homes built in the 1970s, that inspection often turns up things that aren’t visible from the ground: aging underlayment, flashing that’s lost its seal, or granule loss on shingles that are past their useful life.
From there, you get a written estimate that spells out exactly what the repair involves. If your damage was caused by a storm, we can also help you navigate the insurance claims process — documenting the damage, coordinating with your adjuster, and making sure you’re not left to figure that out on your own. That kind of support makes a real difference for homeowners who haven’t been through a roofing claim before.
Because Chestnut Grove is in unincorporated Kent County, any permit required for the scope of work goes through the Kent County Department of Planning Services rather than a municipal building office. We handle that process as part of the job. Once the work is scheduled, our crew shows up on time, completes the repair, and leaves the site clean. You get a workmanship warranty from us on top of the manufacturer warranty from GAF — two layers of coverage that stay with the home.
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Roof repair covers a wide range of work — from fixing a single area of missing shingles after a windstorm to addressing flashing failures around a chimney or skylight, repairing damaged valleys, resealing penetrations, or replacing sections of decking that have absorbed moisture over time. We handle all of it, on residential and commercial properties alike.
For Chestnut Grove homeowners, the most common issues tend to trace back to age and exposure. Homes on large open lots in this part of Kent County deal with more direct UV exposure than properties in wooded or suburban settings, which accelerates granule loss and shingle deterioration on south- and west-facing roof planes. Add in the freeze-thaw cycling that inland Delaware gets through the winter, and older roofs here tend to develop flashing failures and underlayment issues before the shingles themselves show obvious wear. That’s exactly why a professional inspection matters — the damage that causes the leak is usually not the damage you can see from the driveway.
Beyond repair, we also handle full roof replacement when that’s the honest answer, along with siding, gutters, windows, and skylights. Financing is available if the scope of work is more than you want to pay out of pocket at once, and the free estimate means there’s no cost to find out where things stand. If you’re in Chestnut Grove Farms or anywhere along the Chestnut Grove Road corridor, we serve this area directly — no distance surcharges, no unfamiliar crew.
This is the most common question, and the honest answer is: it depends on how much of the roof is actually compromised. A general rule used across the industry is that if more than 30% of the roof needs work, replacement is usually the smarter financial decision over time — patching a roof that’s failing in multiple areas tends to cost more in the long run than starting fresh.
For homes on Chestnut Grove Road, where the average build year is around 1976, the math often tips toward replacement rather than repair — not because contractors prefer the bigger job, but because a roof that’s been through 45-plus Delaware winters and summers has typically worn past the point where targeted repairs hold. Our free inspection will give you a straight answer on where your roof falls. If a repair is genuinely the right call, that’s what we’ll tell you.
Repair costs vary significantly based on what’s actually wrong. Minor repairs — a small flashing fix, a few missing shingles, a resealed penetration — can run as low as $150. More involved repairs involving damaged decking, widespread shingle replacement, or valley work can reach $7,000 or more. The only way to know where your repair falls is to have someone get on the roof and look.
As for insurance, it depends on your policy and the cause of the damage. Storm damage — wind, hail, falling debris — is typically covered under homeowners insurance, but the documentation has to support the claim. We help Chestnut Grove homeowners through the insurance process, including working with adjusters and making sure the damage is properly recorded. If you’ve had a storm come through and you’re not sure whether to file a claim, a free inspection is the right first step before you do anything else.
Most repairs are completed in a single day, sometimes in just a few hours. More extensive repairs involving large sections of decking or significant structural issues can take two to three days, but that’s less common for a targeted fix. What affects the timeline more than anything is scheduling and weather — late summer and fall are the busiest periods for roofing in Kent County because that’s when storm season peaks and homeowners are dealing with fresh damage.
For Chestnut Grove specifically, the open rural setting means weather windows matter. We schedule work around conditions and don’t rush jobs to beat the clock — a repair done correctly in good conditions holds longer than one done quickly in marginal weather. You’ll know the timeline before work starts, and our crew shows up when we say we will.
Because Chestnut Grove is an unincorporated community, it falls under Kent County jurisdiction rather than a municipal building department. Permit requirements depend on the scope of work — minor repairs typically don’t require a permit, but a full roof replacement or significant structural repair generally does. Permits for residential roofing work in unincorporated Kent County are handled through the Kent County Department of Planning Services.
We manage the permitting process as part of the job. You don’t need to navigate the county office on your own or figure out what’s required for your specific scope — that’s handled. It’s one of the practical advantages of working with a contractor who actually knows Kent County’s permitting process rather than one coming in from outside the area without that familiarity.
GAF Master Elite is the highest certification tier GAF offers, and it’s held by roughly the top 2% of roofing contractors in the country. To earn it, a contractor has to meet ongoing requirements around training, insurance, licensing, and customer satisfaction — it’s not a one-time credential. First State Roofing & Exteriors Co. holds this certification, which means we’ve cleared a bar that most local roofers haven’t.
The practical difference for you is the warranty. GAF’s Golden Pledge® Limited Warranty — the strongest coverage they offer — is only available through Master Elite contractors. It covers both the materials and the workmanship under a single warranty document, and it stays with the home if you sell. For a homeowner in Chestnut Grove investing in a roof on a property they plan to hold long-term, that warranty protection is a real, tangible benefit — not just a marketing point.
Yes, financing is available through First State Roofing & Exteriors Co. For homeowners along Chestnut Grove Road, where many households own their property outright or close to it but don’t have $6,000 to $10,000 sitting in savings for a roof they’ve been putting off, having a financing option changes the decision from “can I afford to do this” to “when do I want to start.”
The reason this matters in a community like Chestnut Grove is straightforward: a lot of homeowners here need to protect the home now — before a manageable repair becomes a water damage situation that costs three times as much to fix. Financing lets you move forward without waiting. The free estimate tells you what you’re actually dealing with, and the financing option means cost doesn’t have to be the reason you delay.
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